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Recap:
-Abraham TKO8 over Bouadla
Bouadla gave Arthur some issues in the middle rounds, but, as usual, the house fighter overcame the limited and inept challenger.
*Whats next?*
Who cares? Probably some other club fighter barely on the world level again.
-George Groves UD12 over Glen Johnson
Why Johnson came out of retirement for this, I'll never know. Groves picked him apart, and save for a few later rounds rally attempts, Glen was just target practice for the 24 year old up and comer, which included seeing Glen hit the deck in the 12th.
*Whats next?*
Hell of a question. Groves keeps pushing his name forward in the VERY deep 168lb division. He is still very young, 24, so another showcase or two in the states would not be a bad idea. Staying in England and fighting has-beens or B rate fighters may not be another bad route to go, just to get him rounds and let him work on things, but, 2013 needs to be a 4 fight, name pushing year for him.
-Nonito Donaire KO3 over Jorge Arce
I said it in the preview, and since the fight was made, it's a showcase of Donaire's skills, a cash grab for Arce, and a highlight reel KO waiting to happen. Well, we got all 3. Arce came out very tentative, then took a step forward in round two, walked into a right hand and got sent down. Came out in the third, came forward, and got sent down to the mat in a heap with a combo. Then, he fought on, and that was his downfall as Donaire landed a picture perfect left hook that put Arce down and out - literally.
*Donaire's 4th fight of the year, and should lock up fighter of the year honors with decision wins over Vazquez Jr and Mathebula, and KO wins over Nishioka and Arce.
*Whats next?*
Forget Abner Mares... it's not happening. Bob Arum has already said no, even though GBP offered an olive branch for it to happen. Guillermo Rigondeaux is always out there, but I doubt we see Arum do it. Expect a vacation for Donaire and him to fight in spring, May'ish against a lighter touch. Arce retired after the fight, so there ya go.
-Porter Draw 10 with Diaz
This was a good fight, and Diaz showed he still has something left in the tank. Porter's speed was negated with Diaz's timing, and power, and the overall boxing quality was just great to watch. A very solid, fun fight.
*Whats next?*
For Porter, it's tough. They got him a former champ who was hopefully going to be a showcase, but turned out giving him the fight of his career thus far. Maybe the same thing next time out and see if they can improve on anything. Diaz, keep being a gatekeeper at 147.
-Angulo UD10 over Silva
Perro had to dig deep for this one. Silva just wasn't going away and had Angulo in trouble during a few spots. While the UD scores showed it wasn't overly close, 97-93x3, it was a lot closer and tighter than that in reality (despite the scores being accurate). Angulo showed his limitations again, and Silva showed everyone on the planet how to beat this guy - right hands, and cover up well on the ropes. Should be an easy blue print for any elite level fighter at 154.
*Whats next?*
For Perro, more rounds. I don't think taking on any champ will turn out any wins. He gets hit by the right hand way too easily and every champ at 154 has a solid right hand (even Trout with his counter right hook from the southpaw stance). Get another good camp in under Virgil Hunter and come back out against a quality opponent. Silva, go to ESPN and see about getting a fight. The kid has some talent, and showed it against the hammering Angulo. This fight should have raised his stock.
-Wilder KO3 of Price
2 very boring rounds, and then Wilder finally throws a punch with intent, and nearly decapitates the overmatched Kelvin. Still a lot of work on Wilder though. Very raw, and as we seen, goes looking for the KO instead of setting it up.
*Whats next?*
Wilder wants Bryant Jennings. GBP wants faded champs or has beens. I think they'll go the faded champions route and get him in there with Tony Thompson or some other faded champ. Fighting Jennings, while a step up, is one that looks like it'd give Wilder some issues. He has the size and power, obviously, but the power is raw and has no intelligence behind it. Get him rounds with decent opposition and force him to learn to set up the power shot KOs.
-Khan RTD10 over Molina
Khan once again showed the amazing hand speed, power, and boxing abilities. However, the defense, again, wasn't there all the time. If Molina had heavy hands, the fight would have been a much different fight as he was repeatedly hitting Khan - but lacked the power for Khan to care. In the end, the fight should have been stopped after 8, as Molina was just getting decimated, and thankfully, Jack Reiss the referee called it off not allowing the overmatched club fighter to see the 11th.
*Whats next?*
More of the same. Another light touch, another solid camp under Virgil, and then around June or July, look to a championship fight at 140. No point in going in too fast. He's still young at 26, no need to get too antsy and waste away a golden opportunity with one of the best trainers going, and a company that still has faith in GBP.
-Santa Cruz UD12 over Guevara
Guevara showed some big balls in there, standing and trading, covering up, boxing, and doing a great job of avoiding a lot of what Santa Cruz threw. Only issue is he didn't hit him nearly enough. In the end, the whirl wind of punches started adding up, and Guevara wasn't able to stop Santa Cruz's torrent punching output.
*Whats next?*
Time to start cleaning out the bantamweight division, for Santa Cruz. Get Moreno, or Yamanaka in the ring and fight for the RING title while taking their titles. Or see if you can get in on the vacant WBO title now that Arce is done and relinquished his title there. He still has some learning to do, no doubt, but that shouldn't stop him from cleaning out the division against the best in the division. It's relatively weak right now, and is ripe for the taking.
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